EA for Amendment 95 to the FMP for Groundfish of the BSAI Management Area to Manage Skates as a Target Species Category and a Regulatory Amendment to Implement Maximum Retainable Amounts for the BSAI Skate Complex
March 25, 2014
This document contains an Environmental Assessment for a proposed amendment to the BSAI Fishery Management Plan that would move skates from the "other species" category to the "target species" category.
The proposed amendment to the Fishery Management Plan for Groundfish of the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Management Area would move the skate assemblage from the “other species” category to the “target species” category. Proposed amendments to federal regulations at 50 CFR part 679 revise the list of species in the “other species” category and specify maximum retainable amounts for skates as a separate quota category. The new maximum retainable amounts would specify the maximum amount of skates that could be retained while directed fishing for other groundfish species.